Gazpacho Spinach Salad

This refreshing, veggie-filled Gazpacho Spinach Salad Recipe with a piquant Red Wine Vinaigrette always gets rave reviews. This tomato salad is ideal for summer gatherings.

This Gazpacho Salad paired delightfully with our flank steak fajitas plus it is vibrant, healthy, and tasty.

Why You Must Make

• If you’re a fan of gazpacho, you’ll love this gazpacho-inspired salad!
• It’s made with a base of spinach, lots of veggies, plus a sweet and tangy salad dressing.
• This salad is a perfect summer side when you’re tossing a steak or burgers on the grill.

I was hosting our holiday book club meeting so I pulled out all the stops for dinner. My gracious guests loved every single dish, including this twist on the classic spinach salad.

Ingredient Notes

• Kitchen Staples – Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, Honey
• Tomatoes – Campanelle tomatoes are nice or cut Grape tomatoes in half
• Red Onion – Diced. Soak in ice water, then dry before using if you want to remove some of the sharp flavor.
• Bell Peppers – One red and one yellow, chopped, or use mini peppers, sliced
• Cucumber – Peel and dice an English cucumber or slice mini cucumbers
• Baby Spinach – Look for prewashed for convenience
• Sherry Vinegar – Slightly sweet with a nutty, complex flavor due to the aging process
• Grainy Mustard – Slightly acidic with visible mustard seeds. Cook’s Illustrated calls the flavor “earthy and pleasantly bitter.”
• Red Pepper Flakes – Adds a subtle heat as long as you don’t add too much.

How to Make

I was introduced to gazpacho as a child. My dad worked at the Physics Institute in Aspen, Colorado, for a number of summers. It was a chance for us Midwest born and raised kids to be exposed to ballet, concerts, and more exotic food than we found in Ames, Iowa. It was in Aspen where my parents first tasted gazpacho, and it wasn’t long after that my mom found a recipe to make at home. So it’s not a surprise I love this gazpacho-inspired tomato salad recipe, too!

1. Wash and prep the vegetables by slicing or cutting as needed.
2. Combine tomatoes, onion, peppers, and cucumbers in a bowl; toss. 
3. Put one bag of spinach into a serving bowl, and layer with half the diced vegetables. 
4. Add the second bag of spinach followed by the rest of the veggies.
5. Mix all dressing ingredients except the oil.  Slowly add oil, whisking to combine. 
6. Toss salad with dressing right before serving.

Serving Suggestions

• Serve for lunch with a grilled cheese sandwich.
• It’s perfect with paella or other Spanish-inspired entrees.
• This salad is great with grilled meat like burgers, steaks, chops, and chicken.
• Or serve with lasagna, spaghetti, or stuffed pasta shells.

Recipe Tips

• If you’re a fan of gazpacho, you may also be drawn to gazpacho salad recipes. Making this easy spinach salad just involves some chopping and whisking. 
• PRO-Tip: If there’s any ingredient you don’t like, replace it with another vegetable.
• The red wine vinaigrette provides the perfect amount of tartness, and it complements the chopped vegetables wonderfully. 
• Baby spinach is always preferred for salads as the young stems are more tender than with regular spinach.
• If you use regular spinach, remove any long stems and chop if needed to make bite-sized pieces.
• Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and onions are chopped into bite-sized pieces and served over spinach with the red wine vinaigrette for a tasty fresh vegetable salad recipe.
• PRO-Tip: If you don’t like the sharp taste of raw onions in your salad, dice them small, then soak them in ice water for about 10 minutes. Drain and add to your salad. They will become much milder!
• PRO-Tip: To emulsify (smoothly combine two ingredients that normally do not mix well) your salad dressing, whisk together all the ingredients except the oil. Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until the mixture becomes thick and smooth.

Frequently Asked Questions

You May Also Like:

• Classic Spinach Salad from Spend with Pennies
• Spinach, Almonds and Berries Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Salad
• Corn Basil and Tomato Salad
• Superfoods Salad
• More Best Salad Recipes
• More Easy Healthy Recipes

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The Recipe:

Gazpacho Spinach Salad

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Yield 6

A spinach salad filled with chopped vegetables and topping with a red wine vinaigrette

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 pound of Campanelle tomatoes, cut into eighths or grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and diced
• 2 six-ounce packages of baby spinach

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

1. Combine tomatoes, onion, peppers, and cucumbers in a bowl; toss. 
2. Put one bag of spinach into a serving bowl, layer with half the diced vegetables. 
3. Add the second bag of spinach followed by the rest of the veggies.
4. Mix all dressing ingredients except the oil.  Slowly add oil, whisking to combine.  Toss salad with dressing right before serving.

Notes

Add or omit any favorite fresh vegetables. Croutons are classic in Gazpacho, so these would also be delicious in the salad. Try homemade croutons by sauteing bread cubes in butter.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 130mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 3g

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